


Punch it In

by damerey_knows



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas, F/M, Modern AU, Modern Universe, Thanksgiving, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 18:05:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13416687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damerey_knows/pseuds/damerey_knows
Summary: Forthisprompt.Or, Rey is amused by Poe's general stumbles in life and in rolling through a window.





	Punch it In

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I'm Noelle, the lovely author of this fic. I'm debating whether or not to make this a lil universe and add some other fics in with this one. Let me know!

**Thanksgiving**

Rey watched in amusement as Poe hummed nervously. His fingers gripped the steering wheel like his life depended on it. She rarely caught him this worked up. She couldn’t blame the man for being a tiny bit nervous - he’d only met her family once before, and it wasn’t exactly the best experience. Rey still couldn’t get the stains off that dress…

Lost in thought, she almost missed Poe dropping one hand from the wheel to lay open on the console. She smiled, just a tiny bit, and silently reached over to lace her fingers through his. She raised his hand to her lips and pressed a light kiss to his knuckles. “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered.

At the next red light, Poe looked over at her and smiled. It was a tense, little on-edge type smile, but it was genuine. Rey lowered their hands back to the console. Poe looked away when the light turned green, continuing his short bursts of nervous humming. Rey looked down at their linked hands. It was, in all honesty, everything she wanted in a relationship. But there was something missing.

Before she could give much thought as to what, Poe pulled into her childhood home. He avoided pulling into the garage, obviously too afraid to take a spot there. Rey didn’t note it though, knowing he would deny it.

When the car was completely stopped, Poe pulled the key out and then promptly banged his head against the wheel. Rey burst out laughing at his dramatics. Poe turned his head so he was looking at her. “I’ve never been so tense about a holiday, you know,” he told her. “I love Thanksgiving. I love everything about it. I love absolutely everything about this time of year. What I don’t like is debating for the better part of a week if my girlfriend’s parents will even let me sleep in the same room as their daughter.”

Rey giggled some more. “You’re being overdramatic. Leia adores you, and Han and Luke are just teasing, you  _ know  _ that.” Poe turned his face back to the steering wheel again, his nose flattened against the center of the wheel. Rey shook her head. “I’ll try to wake Beebee-Ate from his slumber,” she said, her voice teasing. “Get the bags, Mopey.”

While Poe got out the car and headed to the trunk, Rey turned around to the backseat. Their dog, Beebee, was sleeping soundly in the middle seat. “Beebee,” she whispered. “We’ve arrived.” The lab slept on. Rey rolled her eyes. “There’s food inside,” she cooed. At that, the dog’s ears perked up, and bleary eyes blinked awake. Rey giggled. “Knew that would get a response.”

She hopped out of the car and opened the back door for Beebee, who scrambled out. He wagged his tail and ran to the doggie door at the front door of Rey’s childhood home. Rey was sure the dog could already smell the delicious meal being cooked. 

Rey turned as Poe came out from behind the car, lugging two duffles and two rolling suitcases. “You know three of these are yours. Mind helping, your highness?” he teased.

Rey beamed, then reached forward and took the two duffles from him before grabbing one of the suitcases as well. “Wimp,” she muttered. Poe rolled his eyes at her shenanigans and took his suitcase.

They headed to the front door, where Leia was waiting, Beebee sitting patiently by her side. “Poe isn’t going to help you with those?” she called.

Rey looked back to see her boyfriend’s face go pale. She began snickering, Poe sending her terrified looks as she did so. He made a grab for the suitcase, but Rey dodged his hand, laughing. “I’ve got it,” she managed through her chuckles. 

When they finally reached the front porch, Leia opened the door for them. Rey tried her best to avoid stepping on Beebee-Ate while he jumped around her feet. In her struggle, Poe managed to grab the suitcase, splitting the load evenly between them. Rey shot him an annoyed glance, only for Poe to send a charming smile back. Rey shook her head and continued on upstairs, to her old bedroom.

Leia followed them up the stairs, making sure to be a good hostess. “Ben is staying in the only guest room, so I suppose the two of you will have to share Rey’s old room,” she announced. She cast a sidelong glance at Poe. “That won’t be a problem, right, Dameron? If it is, I’m sure nobody will mind the couch being taken for a couple of nights.”

Poe stiffened. “Of course not, Mrs. Solo, I’m sure sharing a room won’t be a problem,” he said, politeness oozing from his voice.

Leia chuckled. “I’m just playing around, Poe. Lighten up!”

The tension lessened visibly from Poe’s shoulders. Rey began giggling at her aunt’s teasing. “Yes, Poe, lighten up,” she agreed.

Poe let out a forced chuckle, obviously still nervous. Rey knew he liked her father, and her aunt and uncle - but he couldn’t seem to ever believe that  _ they  _ might like him too.

They found their way to the last bedroom on the top floor of the house. It was the bigger of the two bedrooms upstairs, and was filled with everything Rey hadn’t deemed necessary when she went off to college. 

She was nervous for Poe to see it, though she hadn’t let on to that fact. Inside was everything that made her vulnerable - posters of teen heartthrobs, graphic novels that filled her bookshelves end to end, old sketches that weren’t exactly  _ amazing _ … 

When she opened the door, the room looked the same as it always had. There was her desk, over in the corner, light spilled through from the window above. An easel, one of her firsts, in another corner. Her wonderfully huge closet, which was never filled since she hated shopping for clothes, and Luke had never pushed her to be girly like that. Her bed was big enough so that she could kick and tumble around as she slept.

And then, the numerous embarrassing things she had forgotten to think about. Rey tried not to pay attention to her boyfriend as he looked around, instead focusing on putting her duffle and suitcase on the floor of the closet.

“Childhood room, huh?” she heard Poe murmur, and she turned to him. He was focused on an unfinished piece left on her easel. It was almost complete, everything finished and ready to paint except for the rough outline of a man. He was standing beside a small, round robot, somewhere on a dusty planet. Rey grimaced, annoyed with herself that she hadn’t cleaned up the last time she was here.

“Yeah, I mean half the stuff in here I don’t even know why I bought it,” she said, trying to draw attention away from the artwork.

“And what about the stuff you created?” Poe asked. “Do you know why you did that?”

Rey picked at her nails, uncomfortable talking about her works in this room. “None of them are very good, you know. I’ve done much better work in recent months.”

Poe raised a hand and touched his fingertips to the canvas. “This looked like it was going in a good direction,” he said softly.

“We should probably unpack a little, and then go down for dinner,” Rey muttered.

Poe stepped away from the drawing, picking up on Rey’s unease. “Alright. Now then, I think you had the three suitcases, right?”

 

*******

 

At dinner, everyone was chatty, except for Rey’s moody cousin, Ben. At first, Leia had tried to get her son to join the conversation, but had given up after a few minutes.The conversation was in full gear, trading stories and tales as if they’ve never been told.

“So Leia pulls Rey into the kitchen and starts ordering her around, and Rey’s just got these huge eyes like you wouldn’t believe,” Luke is saying. “Leia thrusts a wooden spoon into this five-year-old’s hands and tells her to start stirring-” He breaks off, laughing.

“And this girl starts trying to stir the Thanksgiving turkey,” Han grumbles. There’s a small smile on his lips though; he seemed amused by the memory.

“Ben made fun of me for months! How was I supposed to know? I’d never seen anyone cook a turkey before!” Rey exclaimed. It’s rare she mentions her time before being taken in by Luke, but right now she’s enjoying herself too much to think about what exactly is coming out of her mouth.

At the mention of his name, Ben looked up from where he was poking at his dinner. “I can’t help the fact you tried to  _ stir a turkey _ , Rey.”

Leia busted out laughing at that. “Look at that, we got the man to speak. Eat your food and stop playing with it, Ben.” She started gathering up empty plates, sending them over to the sink so they could be washed later. “Tomorrow, we start cooking at eight. It’s the only way we’ll get everything ready for dinner,” she announced. “You three get to help me,” She said pointing at Ben, Poe, and Luke. “I don’t trust Han and Rey in my kitchen.”

Poe watched as Rey and Han shared a secretive glance. It was strange to watch her interact with these people. He knew they weren’t  _ really _ her family, but it was clear that they loved her more than any blood relations could.

Rey offered to wash the dishes, since she wasn’t allowed to cook the next day. Nobody opposed - dish duty for a table of Skywalkers and Solos was a nightmare. Rey had never seemed to mind it - even when she was a child, she understood there were worse things she could be forced to do. Washing dishes was nothing, it made her useful.

Poe opted to stay and try to help, though Rey did most of the work. “Just hold the dishes and hand me them as I need, okay?” she had requested, and Poe obliged. If she wanted to do all the work he wasn’t going to stand in her way.

“Why not use the dishwasher?” Poe asked, handing her another plate.

“Ever since Leia moved in, she’s demanded Luke and Han learn ‘good ethics and morals,’ which apparently they didn’t already possess,” Rey responded.

“And they are supposed to learn these ethics and morals by… lack of modern technology?” 

Rey gave a small laugh. “You could say that. Once she went through a phase where she banned the washer and dryer.”

Poe smiled gently. Rey had returned to meticulously scrubbing, making the plates look good as new. It was cute, he thought, how much work she put into this simple task.

“Why did Leia and Han move in?”

Rey raised her eyebrows, looking over at Poe. “You have a lot of questions. What’s up with that?”

Poe shrugged and moved a little closer. “I just want to know more about you, that’s all,” he said, keeping his eyes locked with her own.

Rey looked away, back toward her dish. “Leia claims it’s because Luke needed some guidance and she didn’t want him to let the housework get away from him. Han claims he only does what Leia wants. Luke claims the two were just looking to save money and crash with him.”

“And what do you claim?” Poe raised a hand and pushed a lock of hair away from her face.

“I think they were all lonely,” she whispered.

Poe didn’t ask any more questions, silently handing Rey each plate. When they were done, Rey suggested just going back upstairs.

“Aww, does Rey-Rey not feel like family time?” Poe teased.

“Rey-Rey would like some peace and quiet,” she grumbled. Poe laughed, kissing her cheek as Rey lead him through the house. “We’re going to go the way that avoids the living room entirely.”

“But the stairs are right beside-”

Rey cut him off. “We aren’t using stairs,” she giggled. She pulled Poe outside, then over to where her room would be. “We’re going to climb!” Rey exclaimed.

Poe’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“She is most definitely not kidding you,” someone said. Rey was already climbing, but Poe looked back behind them.

Ben was sitting on the porch, a book in one hand as he watched them. Beebee was at his feet, but wasn’t relaxed. The dog was acting like he was guarding everyone from Ben. Poe almost smirked at the thought.

“Go back to your book, emo queen,” Rey called from her window. Poe looked up at her. She had already scrambled into the room and was now perched on top of her desk, hanging out the open window.

Poe shook his head and started climbing. “Try not to fall on your ass,” Ben muttered.

“Read your book, you antisocial dweeb,” Rey said.

Ben scoffed. “Yes, I’m the antisocial one.”

Rey got off her desk and Poe made it to the opening, stumbling in. He rolled off the desk, limbs flailing, and crashing with a noticeable thud when he hit the floor. He groaned, and Rey sighed. Rey noticed he had made a notable dent in the wall during his struggle.

“So much for stealth,” she whispered, helping Poe up as she did so.

“Was all that really necessary?” he questioned.

Both glanced at the door as they heard someone stomping up the stairs. Luke flung the door open, squinting at the two of them. “I don’t even want to know how you two managed to get up here,” he started. “Just consider yourselves lucky I didn’t catch you screwing.” He left then, muttering something about millennials.

Rey went red, and Poe quietly walked to shut the door. He looked back over to where he had fallen. “Did I-”

“Yes,” Rey responded, her face still a tomato tone.

Poe started snickering, but Rey shot him a look that silenced all noise. “I’m going to get in trouble for that, you know,” she muttered.

Poe went over to her and moved her hair out of her face. “I’ll take all the responsibility, kay? Just relax, Rey.”

“You’re still my guest.”

Poe sighed, wondering how he could possibly cheer her up. His eyes lit up, an idea coming to mind. “Punch me,” he said.

Rey looked up in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“Punch me! It’ll make you feel better.”

“It will not!”

Poe rolled his eyes. “Are you angry at me?”

Rey shrugged, looking down at her feet. “A little. I mean, you could’ve tried to be a little more graceful.”

Poe snorted. “Right, Poe Dameron, graceful. Sounds right.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re angry at me for punching a hole in your wall, so you punch me, it’s only fair.”

Rey looked over to the place where her significant other had punched the wall. She hummed under her breath. “I have a better idea,” she said, rushing over to her closet. From a box in the very far corner, she pulled a picture frame. She then ran over to her desk, going through each drawer until she found a removable wall hook.

She placed the hook above the hole, then set the frame on the hook, perfectly displaying the monstrosity of broken plaster. She took a step back from her work, her hands on her hips. Rey gave a small noise of satisfaction, then turned to Poe.

“Now, whenever someone walks into my room, they will see your mistake, and laugh,” she announced, walking over to Poe and wrapping her arms around his neck.

“How, exactly, will they know it’s mine?” Poe asked.

Rey shrugged. “We’ll get a plaque.”

Poe chuckled, pulling Rey into a hug. He pressed a kiss against her hair. “Yeah, okay.”

 

**Christmas**

 

“You’re nervous again,” Rey noted. She was absolutely right. Poe was drumming his fingers against the steering wheel in an unknown, fast-paced rhythm, and he was obsessively checking every mirror available.

“Me? Nervous when going to see your family? Doesn’t sound right,” Poe said, sarcasm dripping from his lips.

“They love you! How many times do I have to say that?” Rey questioned.

“Leia sure didn’t look like she loved me when she found out I put a hole in her house.”

Rey shook her head. She was sure that she would never convince her boyfriend. She looked back over at Poe. He had gone from tapping to gripping the wheel, but continued to nervously whip his head around.

“You look like someone running for their life,” Rey commented.

“You know what, Rey? I probably should be running for my life. Your family isn’t exactly normal, you know.”

Rey gasped. “Excuse me?”

Poe saw they were nearing the house. “You’ve got your Shut-In, Never-Goes-Into-Town author father, your criminal record uncle and his wife, the General of the Home, your hot topic employee cousin, and your Forbidden Romance grandparents. All in all, it’s not exactly a normal household for the holidays.”

Rey scoffed as Poe pulled into the driveway. “You haven’t even met my grandparents!”

“The grandparents aren’t the point, Rey. The point is your family fucking scares the shit out of me!”

Rey went silent. After a few moments of tense quiet, she found her voice. “Do you hate them?” she asked, her voice betraying doubt.

Poe sighed as he turned off the car. “Rey, I don’t hate them. I love your family. The stories you guys tell, the way everyone comes together at the holidays. . .” He looked wistfully to the white-picket-fence house. “You have a very good life with these people. And I’m scared of that. I’m scared to try and be a part of that. I don’t want to get kicked out because I wasn’t good enough for you.”

Rey abruptly reached over and grabbed Poe’s chin with one hand, forcing him to look at her. “You’re already in, Dameron. No leaving now, okay?”

Poe stared into her eyes, expressionless. Then, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “You couldn’t make me leave even if you wanted to,” he whispered. 

Rey smiled. He was trying. That was going to have to do for now.

“We’re going to have an intense conversation about this at home when I don’t see Luke out of the corner my eye,” she mumbled.

Poe shot away from his girlfriend, then gave her an unamused face as she began to chortle. Neither Luke nor any other member of the Skywalker-Solos were anywhere in sight.

“One of these days. . .” he grumbled.

“Help me get the stuff out of the back.”

Both went around to the trunk to get presents and their fair share of food. There was a present for each family member attending - Leia, Han, Luke, Ben, along with Anakin and Padme. Rey grabbed those, showing off as she had the previous month at Thanksgiving. Poe nodded in acceptance of his fate and grabbed the containers of macaroni and cheese and salad.

When they got to the front door, they stood for a moment trying to figure out how they were going to ring the bell without putting their stuff down. Eventually, Rey just kicked the door, hard enough she scraped some of the paint off. She cringed at her mistake. “Leia is going to crucify me for that,” she groaned.

Ben opened the door, looking sullen and dead inside. Rey smiled. “You look the same as always, Benny!” Her cousin rolled his eyes, moving back to let the couple in the house.

While Rey went to deposit the presents under the tree, Poe went to drop the food in the kitchen. Leia was in the room already, making final preparations for dinner. 

She turned as he entered. “Great! You already have them in servable containers. We’re running out, as you can tell,” she said, waving her arm to gesture at the kitchen. Loads of food was set out, and it seemed most of the Skywalker-Solo dishes were in use.

Poe did what he was told as Leia fired off orders, telling him where to place the two dishes and where serving spoons were and where he could store lids. The kitchen had become a maze of carbs and calories, one giant Tetris game of “Where Can I Put This?”

When everything was settled (Leia had used Poe to help her with every last little thing she had to do), she nodded in satisfaction. “Good work, Dameron. Ever the useful one.”

Poe smiled sheepishly. Leia gave him a skeptic stare. “You okay there?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, it’s just…” Poe trailed off, unsure of where to go.

Leia tilted her head to the breakfast table in the corner. “Sit with me a minute, will you?”

Poe followed her to the table, gingerly sitting in the chair across from the one she chose. Rey’s aunt was silent for a minute. She looked out the window next to them, staring at a setting sun. “Do you know why I wanted to move in with Luke?” she finally asked.

Poe shook his head, then realized she wouldn’t have seen. “Not really,” he said.

“When I got Han to come around, I used the reasoning that the house needed repairs Luke wasn’t willing to get out of his head and do.” She shook her head. “I was right, you know. The house didn’t use to look this good. I’m going to confiscate Rey’s presents for what she did to my door.”

Poe smirked, looking at his hands. It didn’t surprise him they Leia somehow already knew about that when they had been together the whole time.

“I know what Rey thinks, that I and Han and Luke were lonely.” Leia paused, her eyes still trained on the sunset. “Some days, I think she’s right.” She looked back to Poe. “We’re not a big family. Han’s parents aren’t around, Luke never married, and we each only had a kid. My adoptive parents and my aunt and uncle passed a long time ago. Anakin and Padme aren’t far behind,” she whispered.

“You’re adopted?” Poe questioned.

Leia nodded. “Anakin and Padme weren’t in a position for a child, much less two when Luke and I came around. Luke was sent to live with relatives of Anakin, and I was sent with a couple called the Organas.” She looked down at her hands, and Poe wondered if she was close to tears thinking of memories he might never know. “Our parents were always a part of our lives, but we weren’t raised by them. But now though, they’re all we have.”

Once again, Leia locked eyes with Poe. “Us oldies won’t be around for too long. I’m happy Rey’s found someone good, someone she feels comfortable with, while I could watch it happen.” She reached across the table to grab Poe’s hand. “Like I said, we aren’t a big family. But we get a little bigger as the years go by, I think. I’m happy you’re this year’s contribution.”

Poe nodded, looking at his hand in Leia’s. “I’m happy, too,” he said, smiling.

“Good. Now let’s eat, Dameron.”

 

*******

 

The room erupted into laughter as Ben showed off Rey’s and Poe’s gift to him; a large sweatshirt with the words “Built Like a Brick” written on the back. “Just what I wanted,” he mumbled, but there was a small smile on his lips.

The giggles finally died down, and Padme looked around the room. “Is everyone done then?” she asked, her voice high and sweet.

Rey shot up. “Hold on! I’ve got to go grab something.” She raced out to the car, digging the keys she had snatched from Poe out of her pocket. She unlocked the trunk, looking for the small package she had tucked between the lining of the interior.

Grabbing it, she locked the car and bolted back inside to where everyone was waiting. Rey returned to her place beside Poe, handing him the wrapped package. They had exchanged gifts this morning, but she had wanted everyone to see this. 

“Merry Christmas,” she whispered as he opened it.

He removed the wrapping paper, and then pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you serious right now?”

“Come on, kid, show us what you got,” Han grumbled.

Poe showed off the plaque to everyone in the room. “What does it say, Poe?” Rey teased.

Poe sighed. “First Thanksgiving,” he read. “Twenty-Seventeen. Medium: Fist, The Wall. Sculpted by Poe Dameron.”

Once again, the room was filled with the sound of cackles and chortles. By Christmas, everyone, even Anakin and Padme, had heard of the new hole in Rey’s old room. Leia said she wouldn’t fix it until Rey “took that damn frame off,” and Rey refused to. Now, it would never get fixed.

“Let’s go put it up,” Rey said, dragging her boyfriend up by the hand. They made their way upstairs, Rey continuously telling Poe to hurry up.

When they got there, Rey stood solemnly by the framed hole. “Poe Dameron,” she whispered. “Do as you must, and place the plaque.”

Poe shook his head. “We could’ve just offered to fix the hole, you know.”

“That’s not nearly as much fun!” Rey exclaimed.

“Whatever,” Poe muttered, placing the plague.

Rey pushed him aside. “Looks good! We can go back now.”

Poe grabbed her wrist before she could get too far. “Since I put your plaque up, will you do me a favor?” he asked.

Rey faked hurt. “That was a gift, Dameron!”

He rolled his eyes. Then he looked over at the unfinished piece he had questioned back in November. “Will you take that home and finish it?”

Rey softened all at once. “Poe…”

“Please.”

Rey looked at him, and then the drawing. She sighed. “I’ll take it home, but I’m not promising anything,” she conceded.

Poe leaned down and kissed her, but drew back almost immediately. “Alright.  _ Now  _ we can go back downstairs.”

The couple went, but stopped near the entrance to the living room. They could hear the cleaning up process going on. Poe and Rey looked at each other. “Do you want to help with that?” Rey whispered. Poe shook his head in response. “Right.”

Poe snuck a glance into the room before moving back. “I feel like karma will get us if we don’t.”

Rey sighed. “You’re probably right.”

They entered the living room and were promptly ordered to find every piece of wrapping paper they could. Nobody was leaving until the room was spotless. Poe started looking, while Rey went ahead and moved their presents out to the car.

When she came back in, she stood in the doorway watching Poe. Leia came up beside her. “I like him, you know that?”

Rey beamed. “I know.”

 


End file.
